Integration for PlayStation and Discord is now live for PS4 and PS5, allowing users to display their console activity on the communications service. Discord, which first launched in 2015, is a media messaging platform enabling communications through text, video calls, and voice chat for its over 140 million monthly active users. The platform has proven especially accessible for gaming, as eleven previous integrations allow users to display their online activity for friends and communities interested in joining. The platform is the home of many online communities and Sony previously announced its partnership with Discord last year, promising integration with its PlayStation consoles by early 2022.
After Sony made a minority investment during Discord’s Series H round, PlayStation CEO and President Jim Ryan announced that PlayStation users would soon be able to connect via Discord, with the goal of enabling players to create communities, join groups, and chat with friends while playing games directly through PS4 and PS5 consoles. The announcement followed Microsoft’s failure to purchase Discord for $10 billion in March, with the communications service backing out of the acquisition to explore its individual growth and a potential IPO. The promised Sony integration was leaked earlier this year, with various Reddit users uncovering signs that PlayStation’s Discord integration was inbound after spotting the PlayStation logo among the other services Discord can connect to.
In a blog post, Discord announced that PlayStation and Discord integration is now available for PS4 and PS5 consoles, allowing users to connect their PSN account to the communications service. The new feature started slowly rolling out on January 31, bringing the PlayStation Network to Discord so friends and communities can see what a user is playing – and if crossplay is available. This system works similarly to Discord’s eleven other service integrations, displaying whether the user is online and what game they are playing. PlayStation owners can opt-in to display their PlayStation Network online ID on their Discord profile to begin using the feature. To connect a PSN account, users will have to go into the Connections settings under User Settings, clicking on the PlayStation icon to log in through the PlayStation Network.
Recent news of Sony acquiring Destiny developer Bungie is just one of its major steps to compete with Microsoft’s ever-expanding gaming division, and the new Discord integration is another. Though there isn’t an official Discord app available on PlayStation, it’s speculated that the partnership will eventually culminate in a full integration sometime in the near future. For now, displaying game activity is an excellent tool for PlayStation users, who have previously remained hidden on Discord’s activity tracker. PlayStation’s Discord integration is especially important for building a community around gaming.
Though it doesn’t seem like a lot, seeing whether a particular user is online and what game they are currently playing allows users to connect even quicker, instead of the guesswork involved in figuring out who is free to game. Connecting the PlayStation Network adds PlayStation games to the mix and is an important first step towards full Discord integration with PS4 and PS5 consoles. While Discord has moved away from gaming to become a more inclusive platform, gaming is an important part of its community, and Discord’s continuous expansion in the space is a good sign for the platform.
